Luminescence 30

*

Eros had only heard of the antiques dealer.

            Ramon was squat, broad, built like a man who’d fought in a war before. His gaze was shrewd and sharp, his shirt beaded with sweat stains, his face patched in wrinkles. Worst of all, he was Ex-Guardian and a traitor to his kind.

            Eros let his hand find the silver cool metal in his pocket, as his fingers grasped the solidity an instant calm swept through him. He watched as the Ex-Guardian took them both in.

He made no move as Marcus flipped the Open sign to Closed.

            “You think you’re the first to come in here and do that?” Ramon’s voice was gruff as if from lack of use. “I get one of youslot every week,” his gaze shot between the two. “Though they’re not as good lookin.”

             “Ramon,” Eros said.

            “Ain’t nobody called me that in years,” he shot back.

            Marcus came away from the windowed shop front until his blunt gaze was aimed at the man behind the counter. “We require your services.”

            “Sbeen a long time since a Guardian needed my help,” the man shrugged.

            Eros resisted the urge to take the bait. He knew by the square set jaw, the hardened eyes and that straight-backed stance that if he pissed this guy off they’d get nothing. Instead, Eros shifted the leather strap off his shoulder and pulled out the object bound tight in a handkerchief.